I question things which people take for granted. I would have been that kid who said the emperor was naked. In real life that kid would probably have been lynched, but I'll take my chances...
I believe truth inherently valuable, no matter how well intentioned the ideology it dispels may be.
I also write about random interesting things from my personal life.

13 February 2013

Workouts for the Brain

Just like
with fitness / health / strength, a lot of intelligence is genetic, and there is
nothing you can do about that part. But, like with fitness, even more of it is
environment/experiences, and we have 100% control of that.

All of these things will literally stimulate the creation of new
neural connections, and (to a smaller extent) even brand new brain
cells. This has been definitively confirmed by plenty
of independent tests (which is where the idea of "brain games" came from
- although that is as yet unproven to be effective)

Plus, when you start to understand the underlying reasons for how
things work, everything starts to make sense. Once you learn the
fundamentals of physics, mechanics, and chemistry, all mechanical things
make sense, and you can reverse engineer anything, figure out how it
works, and repair it. Once you learn the fundamentals of human
psychology and sociology, all human behavior makes sense, and you can
avoid conflict and get people on your side, or at least their respect,
no matter how different their life outlook may be.

Do all math problems mentally firstDo as much as possible without asking for help

When something just won't work, try starting over and looking at it a totally different way

Use waiting time to solve puzzles (cell phones are useful here)

Take free online IQ tests (not for the score, but for the challenge and practice)

Try to remember things, and then recall them later
Rearrange things so that you have to relearn habits -

switch nightstand sides with your
partner, instal the light switches so that down is on and up is off, or
move the silverware to a different drawer

Use your non-dominate hand to do motor skills -

like unlocking the door, dialing a phone, taking a card out of your wallet, or using a spoon or fork.

Do brand new things
Do old things in a completely different way

Do ordinary every day tasks with your eyes closed (just not driving or bike riding!)

Do something ordinary as fast as possible

Do something extra carefully, so that it is 100% perfect the first time

Every once in a while, do something the hard way on purpose

Take a moment to think about what you are about to say before you say anything

Take a moment to think about what you are about to do before you do anything

ASK QUESTIONS -

any
time you don't understand, or don't understand 100%, or there is any
chance you might be misunderstanding - not just don't understand "what",
but also why, ask questions. Ask everyone, about everything; ask so many
questions that it starts to get annoying, and then, if there is any
remaining ambiguity, ask more questions. Never accept "that's just how
its done" as an answer for anything.

Be self-aware - pay attention to your own feelings, and look out for prejudices, dogma, logical fallacies, etc. Everyone has these things, but the more you look for them, the more you can avoid them Read more

It might look like a lot of work at first, but
learning is fun. Once you get in the habit, it feels normal quickly.
And the effects will make literally every part of life better in every
way, for as long as you live.